If you’re interested in sustainable farming practices and how fish gets to your plate, an upcoming virtual event is for you.  The second annual Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Days will take place Aug. 31 through Sept. 2. This year, the event is moving from a single day to three days of fun-filled aquaculture learning opportunities!

The interactive event will showcase the region’s fish and seafood production through virtual farm tours, live interviews with farmers and Q&A sessions. 

The event is free and open to the public.  Registration is required. Farm tours begin at 2 and 3 p.m. central time each day (3 and 4 p.m. Eastern). Tours last approximately 15 minutes, followed by live interviews and Q&A with the featured farmers.

The event will showcase farms across the Great Lakes region that have been successful in creating viable businesses, producing high quality products and limiting their environmental impacts.  Farm tours will highlight different aquaculture methods. Each farm is privately owned and operates in a unique way, producing a variety of different species. Attendees will learn about the diversity of aquaculture operations in the Great Lakes region.

The farm tour lineup is as follows: 

  • Aug. 31, 2 p.m.: Branch River Trout Hatchery, Wisconsin – raceways in combination with a winery
  • Aug. 31, 3 p.m.: Cedar Brook Trout Farm, Michigan – trout raceways
  • Sept. 1, 2 p.m.: Hickling’s Fish Farm, New York – bass and trout raceways and ponds
  • Sept. 1, 3 p.m.: Ozark Fisheries, Indiana/Missouri – pond and flowthrough
  • Sept. 2, 2 p.m.: Ripple Rock Fish Farms, Ohio  – recirculating aquaculture system
  • Sept. 2, 3 p.m.: Lincoln Bait LLC, Minnesota – bait farm

The event is hosted by the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, which is a project of Sea Grant programs across the Great Lakes region working to share resources and promote best practices throughout the aquaculture industry. Wisconsin Sea Grant is a member of this effort; for more Wisconsin-related information about Aquaculture Days, contact Titus Seilheimer, fisheries outreach specialist.

Attendees will have opportunities to interact with other participants through the question-and-answer sessions at the end of each farm tour. These sessions also offer a chance to pick the brains of experienced aquaculture operators across the region. 

Globally, aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of agriculture. It now accounts for more than 50% of the world’s seafood production, surpassing production from wild-caught fisheries. However, in the United States, the growth of aquaculture has been stagnant, and seafood supply from U.S.-based, wild-caught fisheries is not enough to meet the national demand. One result is a $14 billion seafood trade deficit. 

The U.S. aquaculture industry has the potential for growth, especially in the Great Lakes region, where abundant inland freshwater resources have enabled a handful of aquaculture operations that employ a local workforce and produce sustainable, healthy and tasty fish. 

In Wisconsin, consumers can learn more about fish that is both farmed and wild-caught in the state by visiting EatWisconsinFish.org, a project of Wisconsin Sea Grant. The site includes recipes, information about producers, health facts and more.

For more information about Great Lakes Aquaculture Days 2021 or to register, visit greatlakesseagrant.com/aquaculture or contact Michigan Sea Grant Extension Educator Elliot Nelson, elliotne@msu.edu. For information about the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, contact Minnesota Sea Grant Extension Educator Amy Schrank, aschrank@umn.edu.

The post Aquaculture Days virtual event connects public with fish farmers and local fish first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

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Jennifer Smith

I’ve always been a fish fan. Though I didn’t grow up in Wisconsin, both of my parents hailed from the Badger State, so the fish-fry culture is in my blood. Of course, there’s a lot more to eating fish than deep frying it, which is why I hopped on to a recent live webinar offered by the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative—of which Wisconsin Sea Grant is a part—and hosted by Ohio Sea Grant.

“Fish to Fork: Grilling in the Great Lakes” featured my colleague here at Wisconsin Sea Grant, Sharon Moen, as well as two Sea Grant-ers from my home state of Michigan, Lauren Jescovitch and Elliot Nelson. Sharon runs our Eat Wisconsin Fish initiative, working with fish farmers, commercial fishers and consumers.

Shrimp and veggie kabobs ready for the grill.

Sharon, Lauren and Elliot put on a lively session via Zoom, with Lauren and Elliot beaming in from their kitchens in Michigan’s U.P., and Sharon from her tree-lined deck in the Twin Ports area (Duluth/Superior).

While I encourage you to watch the recording yourself to pick up some fish tips, I thought I’d blog some of my impressions and takeaways from these three experts.

When possible, they said, it’s great to get your fish directly from local producers, such as a fish farmer in your area or commercial fishers. That way, you know your product is very fresh and you can ask questions about how it was raised or caught. And because these products (whether farmed or wild-caught) are highly regulated in the U.S., you can feel confident you’re getting a safe product.

If you can’t buy direct from a producer or at a specialty fish market, you’re probably picking up your fish at a large grocery store or big-box store. Labels are your friend! Elliot, an extension educator covering Michigan’s eastern U.P., suggests finding out where the fish or seafood came from. You might be surprised to find some local or regional choices.

Also, noted Elliot, don’t assume that the fresh fish counter is automatically superior to the freezer section. Sometimes “fresh” fish at the counter can be past its prime. Avoid mushy textures, strong fishy odors or things that look opaque or cloudy.

In the frozen section, you don’t want to see ice on the outside of the bag or on freezer shelves, but ice inside the bag is fine. Vacuum-sealed products are also a good way to go.

Lauren, an extension educator covering the western U.P., preceded Elliot with an impressive—and only slightly gory—demonstration of how to gut and fillet whole fish.

Lauren recommended gutting smaller fish, leaving them more or less intact, then placing seasonings inside before cooking. She used fish from the Watersmeet Trout Hatchery, as well as a local maple barbecue seasoning rub. For larger fish, she recommended filleting.

Impressively, during the live hour on Zoom, she cooked her clean, gutted trout on an indoor grill and then showed the removal of skin and pin bones before eating. While I know she’s had plenty of practice, it looked very do-able!

Sharon Moen makes a fish kabob during a live webinar hosted by Ohio Sea Grant.

While Elliott focused on food selection and safety, and Lauren showcased her knife skills, Sharon assembled a colorful, healthy kabob for an outdoor grill, using a combo of shrimp, catfish, trout and vegetables. She showed off her finished product at the end of the hour, which looked to have just the right amount of char on the veggies.

I’ll be sure to invite myself over to Sharon’s next time I’m in the Twin Ports—both the skewers and her deck looked fabulous on a summer’s day. Add a glass of wine, and that’s my idea of a perfect summer lunch or dinner!

You can find Sharon’s kabob recipe, Fishes on Sticks, on the Eat Wisconsin Fish website. And to hear more from Sharon, check out her June 19 appearance on the Buckeye Sportsman radio show, when she chatted with host Dan Armitage about grilling fish and more (Sharon’s segment runs from 14:15-30:38 on the recording).

As Elliot said near the end of the hour, there’s “a bounty of flavors when it comes to seafood,” and preparation doesn’t have to be complex. If you watch the archived webinar from this trio of fish experts, I’m sure you’ll agree.

In the meantime, here are some Sea Grant-supported web resources that that can help you find producers, specialty fish markets, recipes, health info and more:

Eat Wisconsin Fish

Eat Midwest Fish

Seafood Health Facts

The post Getting your grill on with Sea Grant first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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Blog | Wisconsin Sea Grant

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Jennifer Smith

Whether you’re loyal to charcoal or have a gas grill with all the bells and whistles, summer means grilling in Wisconsin. An online event involving Wisconsin Sea Grant will help people make the most of grilling fish from the Great Lakes region.

Eat Wisconsin Fish Outreach Specialist Sharon Moen. (Photo: Marie Zhuikov)

“Fish to Fork: Grilling in the Great Lakes” will take place Wednesday, June 23, at noon central time. The one-hour event will include Sharon Moen of Wisconsin Sea Grant’s “Eat Wisconsin Fish” project. She will talk about proper seafood preparation and grilling techniques, as well as what to do with your leftovers.

Participants may register for this free, online event on Ohio Sea Grant’s website. Please note that the registration page lists Eastern time; the event begins at noon Wisconsin time.

“While people love burgers and brats on the grill, it’s fun to switch it up and offer your guests a fish or seafood skewer with colorful veggies. Kabobs are great for family gatherings since you can make individual ones to suit people’s tastes,” said Moen.

Moen will be joined by Sea Grant colleagues from a neighboring state: Lauren Jescovitch and Elliot Nelson of Michigan Sea Grant. Jescovitch will talk about food safety considerations when selecting your seafood, and Nelson will cover food safety at home.

Shrimp and veggie kabobs ready for the grill.

The event will focus on seafood raised sustainably in the Midwest through aquaculture. Featured species are shrimp, rainbow trout and catfish.

Moen, who is based in Wisconsin Sea Grant’s Lake Superior Field Office, works with Wisconsin’s commercial fishers, fish farmers and fish consumers.

An earlier webinar from the same series on cooking Great Lakes fish is now available for viewing on YouTube. That April webinar featured Wisconsin Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer and Peter Fritsch, president of Wisconsin’s Rushing Waters Fisheries. View “Fish to Fork: Cooking Great Lakes Fish” here.

The June 23 event is hosted by the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, of which Wisconsin Sea Grant is a part, and Ohio Sea Grant. The National Sea Grant College Program is a federal-state-university partnership with 34 programs across the nation, including in each of the Great Lakes states. These science-based programs are centered on research, education and outreach to foster the sustainable use and care of Great Lakes resources.

For questions about this event, contact Moen at smoen@aqua.wisc.edu.

The post “Fish to Fork” event provides tips for grilling Great Lakes fish and seafood first appeared on Wisconsin Sea Grant.

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News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases | Wisconsin Sea Grant

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Jennifer Smith

All welcome at this free, virtual event

The first Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Day will be held Saturday, October 10. The online event will showcase the region’s potential for fish and seafood production and include a culinary competition. 

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 4:30 p.m. central time with the cooking challenge, in which culinary students will test their creativity and flair.

The day will feature a variety of panel discussions and presentations on aquaculture. Those presentations will be targeted at a variety of audiences, from beginning and current farmers to consumers interested in learning more about preparing and cooking seafood.

The event is hosted by the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, a project of Sea Grant programs across the region—including Wisconsin Sea Grant—that are working to share resources and promote best practices in the aquaculture industry. 

Emma Wiermaa of Wisconsin Sea Grant and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility (NADF) will be one of the presenters at Great Lakes Aquaculture Day. She is pictured with NADF Assistant Director and Research Program Manager Greg Fischer. (Photo: Narayan Mahon)

Wisconsin Sea Grant outreach specialists Emma Wiermaa—who holds a joint position with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility in Bayfield, where she is based—and Titus Seilheimer, a fisheries specialist, will participate in the event.

The day will conclude with a cooking demonstration featuring Chef Jeff Igel of the Wisconsin Technical College System, followed by a competition between three culinary students from the Great Lakes region. Each student will be required to use a key ingredient and local aquaculture products in his or her dish. 

The Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative is currently accepting applications from post-secondary students for the competition. The three students selected will each receive a $250 stipend to cover ingredients costs and time. 

All Great Lakes Aquaculture Day attendees will be able to interact with other participants throughout the event and during breakout lunch gatherings. 

As the fastest-growing sector of agriculture worldwide, aquaculture now accounts for more than 50% of world seafood production, surpassing that from wild-caught fisheries. However, aquaculture growth in the U.S. has been stagnant, and seafood supply from U.S.-based, wild-caught fisheries is not enough to meet nationwide demand. One result of that is a $14 billion seafood trade deficit. 

The U.S. aquaculture industry has potential for growth, particularly in the Great Lakes region, where abundant inland freshwater resources have enabled a handful of state-based aquaculture operations to employ a local workforce and produce sustainable, healthy and tasty fish. 

For more information about the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Day 2020 event and registration, visit the Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative website or contact Michigan Sea Grant Extension Educator Elliot Nelson. For information about the Sea Grant Great Lakes Aquaculture Collaborative, contact Minnesota Sea Grant Extension Educator Amy Schrank.

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/great-lakes-aquaculture-day-announced/

Jennifer Smith